April 12, 2026 "Peace Be With You"

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:14a, 22-32

Psalm 16

1 Peter 1:3-9

John 20:19-31

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

 grace and peace to you

 from the one who comes to us in our fear

and offers us peace Amen.

 It was evening on that day,

the first day of the week,

 and the doors were locked

where the disciples were,

because they were afraid

John tells us that they were afraid

of the religious authorities,

 the ones who had engineered Jesus’ crucifixion

though I’m sure there were other things about the whole situation

 which caused them fear,

 so they gathered together

and locked the doors.

And though the doors are locked

Jesus comes,

stands among them,

and speaks a word of peace.

And while Jesus sends them with the gift of the Holy Spirit,

 the power of forgiveness

the power and commission to heal relationships

 the next week

we find them back in that room

with the doors shut.

They are still afraid.

And again

Jesus comes to them and offers peace.

This is what Jesus does when we are locked away in fear,

 he comes to us with peace.

Sometimes in the rush of Easter jubilation

we discount how afraid the disciples are,

 how justified their fear is,

Fear behind locked doors is still a reality.

 We live in a time

when there are many sitting behind locked doors out of fear.

 I heard a story on the radio the other day

about schools that have organized “walking school buses”

where volunteer parents take turns walking groups of kids to school

 because some of the kids’ parents are too afraid to leave their houses,

 even to take their children to school.

 “S is so worried about being detained by ICE that she asked NPR to refer to her only by her first initial. She asked NPR not to identify her kids at all. Her 7-year-old son is part of the walking bus.

"She explained to me like, yeah, these people, they take me home, and then they bring me to school," he said.

His sister, 14, said she understands what's going on. "I get fear because like, what if I'm at school and my mom's outside and something happens to her," she whispered.” (https://www.npr.org/2026/03/19/nx-s1-5692645/ice-activity-schools-walking-bus) 

These fears are real and well founded and so the doors are locked. 

I was catching up with a friend this week

who lives in southern Oregon.

She was telling me she loves living there

 except that in the summer the wildfires make the air quality so bad

 that they can’t go outside,

they just stay inside with their air filters

 and she was lamenting, what kind of life is that for her daughter?

 But it is the reality you don’t want to breath in that smoke

and so the doors are shut.

We ourselves have the practice

 of locking our doors after worship has started,

 I believe there were some experiences that led to that decision

and it was one that the community struggled with,

and while we have ushers to let people in,

still the doors are locked.

We live in a world where there are many genuine things to fear,

 and so we retreat behind shut doors

and Jesus comes offering peace

in the parents that walk children to school

and those that bring groceries to the fearful

in those working to mitigate climate change

in those who are on the lookout ready to open the door

and welcome friend and stranger.

Jesus comes into the midst of our fear

and speaks a word of peace,

shows us his hands and side,

proof that he faced death,

            the ultimate root of fear,

 and came back

did not let death have the last say.

Then he gives us the holy spirit

And sends us out.

And when the very next week

we again have shut the doors,

Jesus comes to us again,

and once again offers us peace

 and sends us,

 and again,

and again

The fear is real and valid,

 Jesus who still has the marks from the nails that fixed him to the cross

 knows this,

 he has never promised that following him would be free from suffering,

 in fact quite the opposite

and yet Jesus doesn’t speak harshly to the disciples

or even to us for shutting the doors

but continues to offer us peace

and continues to send us with the Spirit

he sends us

because he knows that it is in facing it down

that suffering is transformed into new life

but he doesn’t expect us to do it alone

joined to him in the waters of baptism

he goes with us and promises that whatever we do or fail to do

this new life will be ours.

This is the message that Peter is conveying in his first letter,

 our second reading for today.

He’s writing to communities of gentile Christians

who are facing various persecutions,

 some for the simple fact of them becoming Christian,

 a move that meant leaving their traditional family,

 identity, and the security that comes with that, behind.

 For the earliest Christians

baptism was very literally an entry into a new way of life,

 a new family, a new identity,

 and invariably suffering.

So why make the change?

 Why endure the suffering?

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5) Peter proclaims

Suffering is a part of this life

But now we have hope.

Hope that life can and will be different.

Hope that seeks to live that difference now

Even as Christ has promised to bring it to fullness later.

Hope that is alive.

as commentator David Bartlett remarks 

“Hope lives because it is based in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, his triumph over death. Hope lives because death cannot overcome it. Hope lives because even in the face of tribulation it does not back down or grow faint. Living hope is hope that gives life.” (New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 12, 250)

Life that includes the privilege and joy of loving Christ right now,

a life sustained by faith,

which oddly enough is refined in the face of suffering

 which like a fire that burns away impurities in gold

burns away the false hopes and distractions to our faith

leaving a faith that trusts and hopes in the future,

 the future where

 as we pray in the Lord’s prayer,

God’s kingdom comes

and God’s will is done

 on earth as in heaven,

we pray for this,

hope for this,

even as we experience the joy of life in relationship with Christ,

and yes even salvation, right now.

And even then,

 sometimes we still end up fearfully locked behind closed doors.

And Jesus comes to us once again

and speaks a word of peace. Amen